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OLYMPICS: THE PIONEER; A Humble Iginla Raises His Profile

Jarome Iginla came into the Olympics as the leading scorer in the National Hockey League, and left the Games today sharing the goal-scoring honors in a game that brought home the gold to a nation that has waited 50 years to welcome it back.

Yet when he came off the ice, having contributed two goals and an assist in Canada's 5-2 victory over the United States, Iginla sounded humble. He talked about what a privilege it was to play with great players like Mario Lemieux and Steve Yzerman. He praised the two goals by Joe Sakic. He spoke reverently of Canada's gold-winning women's hockey team.

His humility was even more striking because his accomplishment was more than the two goals. Today he became the first black man to play in an Olympic gold medal hockey game, and the second black to win a gold medal in the Winter Olympics, following Vonetta Flowers's surprise victory in the two-woman bobsled last week.

At the suggestion that he might inspire other minorities to enter a sport that has traditionally been the province of whites, Iginla beamed.

Playing for the Calgary Flames, a team in a relatively small media market, Iginla is little known in the United States. But at home, he has already taken steps to encourage more children, particularly minorities, to enter the sport, donating $1,000 for every goal scored this season to a Calgary group that provides equipment to underprivileged children.

Even after the game, with fans screaming ''Go Iggy, Go!'' Iginla seemed surprised to find himself at the Olympics.

''This has just been an unbelievable experience, to play with these guys, for Canada,'' he said. ''We all dream of playing in a game like this.''

Now 24 -- his birthday is appropriately on Canada Day, July 1 -- Iginla was born in Edmonton and spent his formative years there when the Oilers were winning five Stanley Cups. The son of a Nigerian father and an American mother, he was introduced to hockey by his maternal grandfather, and admired the Oilers' black goalie, Grant Fuhr. But it was another Oiler, Wayne Gretzky, whom he idolized.

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Imagine his surprise, then, when the Great One himself called and asked Iginla to play at the Canadian Olympic team's orientation camp in September. Iginla originally thought it was his teammates playing a joke on him. But Gretzky, the architect of this year's winning team, truly wanted him, as a last-minute stand in for an injured Simon Gagné.

Iginla was chosen by the Dallas Stars in July 1995 as the 11th overall pick in the N.H.L. entry draft and his draft rights were traded the following December to the Flames. He played juniors that season for the Kamloops Blazers in the Western Hockey League and made a brief appearance in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

He scored 21 goals and had 29 assists for the Flames in 1996-97, when he was runner-up for the Calder trophy as the N.H.L.'s top rookie.

He won a gold medal playing for Canada in the 1997 world championships. In 2000-1, he was the Flames' top scorer, with 71 points. This season, he was the first N.H.L. player to score 20 goals and his 35 goals and 64 points are both three ahead of anyone else in the league.

His gold medal hanging around his neck, Iginla confessed to being ''a little star struck'' playing with some of the greatest names in the game, on a team picked by perhaps the most well-known name.

But the team is relatively old. Given this, Gretzky was asked about the future for Canadian Olympic hockey teams -- whether this could start a gold medal streak. He picked out Iginla as one of the most promising players for future tournaments, calling him ''a terrific story,'' and noting how far he had come since orientation camp.

''He really got better with every game, all year long,'' Gretzky said.

Iginla said: ''It's been a fantastic year. I couldn't ask for much more.''

Asked whether he would return to play Olympic hockey for Canada, he said that it would depend on whether he would be picked again. ''I'd love to be back,'' he added, smiling broadly and wiping the sweat from his face.

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A version of this article appears in print on February 25, 2002, on Page D00006 of the National edition with the headline: OLYMPICS: THE PIONEER; A Humble Iginla Raises His Profile. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe